McDonald’s Fabricates Awkward Internet Meme With #Shamrocking

Pose like a poor man's Captain Morgan

McDonald's recently failed spectacularly with a hashtag-based campaign, #McDStories, which became a bashtag when people hijacked it to tell some of the most unpleasant and disgusting McDonald's stories ever. Undaunted, McDonald's is trying again, this time with #Shamrocking, tied to the ever-popular mint-flavored Shamrock Shake, reintroduced around St. Patrick's Day. Work That Matters points us to this sponsored post on BuzzFeed, introducing the concept. "Have You Tried #Shamrocking Yet?" reads the headline, followed by this copy: "The Irish jig has been an expression of joy since the 16th century, and thanks to the hot new viral trend of #Shamrocking, it's making a modern day comeback. Check out some of these high-stepping #Shamrockers, then get out there and treat your friends to a shake and make them dance with delight!" Clearly, the word #Shamrocking has great potential for being misused—and apparently already has one truly unsavory existing meaning. And let's face it—McDonald's is always going to suffer a certain amount of abuse whenever it tries to engage the public in social media. In a way, you have to hand it to McDonald's for jumping right back into the fire after getting burned. But the concept just feels stale. The photos are reminiscent of the Captain Morgan pose, which was the subject of its own (lame even at the time) Internet photo-meme campaign way back in 2007.